Andali's Hope
by Nirahla Shepard
Summary: Andali is a female dunmer shop-keeper and former mercenary living on Solstheim when the dragonborn gets attacked by Miraak's cult in Skyrim. Needing a guide, the dragonborn employes the former mercenary to guide him through the ash-covered land and help him discover why he is being attacked and just who Miraak is. M!DragonbornXF!OC
1. Prologue

**Chapter One**

A female Dunmer walked through the ash covered ground of Solstheim. She had spent nearly her entire life living in Raven Rock, a small settlement in Solstheim, a small island between Morrowind and Skyrim. Her name is Andali Arendu, a shop keeper and alchemist/enchanter. Her parents died from an Ash Spawn attack at the farm they had been living on when Andali was twelve years old. That was ten years ago now. She had been found by the dunmer mage, Neloth, and he had taken her back to his small settlement and raised her. It had been weird growing up in giant mushrooms, but she had a good life and was a talented mage. She had left that place about two years ago to look for work in Raven Rock and managed to get enough gold being a mercenary to open a shop of her own.

Walking around the people on the streets, Andali opened the door to the local tavern, The Retching Netch, and pulled down her face mask. A small windstorm was passing through the area and almost everyone was wearing face masks to prevent any ash inhalation if they were outside. Nodding to the mercenary, Teldryn Sero, Andali made her way downstairs and sat at one of the tables and pulled out a journal, quill and ink and started writing.

_Entry 12,  
There is a windstorm passing through the area so everyone is staying inside their homes or in the tavern until it passes. While I was out gathering some ingredients, I came across some of the Skall hunters and they gave me some of their_ _left over Netch Leather and told me about a rumor they heard about the Dragonborn returning to Skyrim. I have heard stories of the Dragonborn, but I don't know if I believe it, but if it's true, it would explain the dragons I have seen off the cost to the north-west. _

"Andali Arendu?"

She looked up and saw a male dunmer she had never seen or met before standing by her table, "Yes? Can I help you?"

The man sat down in the chair across from her and shook her hand, "I am Coalion Laron and I was told that you are a sell-sword." This man's skin was a shade lighter than her own, and his eyes weren't the typical bright dunmer blood red, but a ruby red and he had dark gray war-paint the ran from the corners of his eyes to the sides of his face, below the ears.

"I am a shop keeper now, but I used to be a mercenary, why?"

"I need someone to come with me while I do some things around the area. I have never been to Solstheim before and I don't know the land." Andali could tell that he had never been here before. Anyone coming to Solstheim had to enter from Raven Rock since it was the only place with an accessible port.

"Like I said, I am not a mercenary anymore but upstairs, there is a sell-sword by the name is Teldryn Sero. I am sure he can help you if you ask him."

"The barman told me that Sero was recently hired by someone else and is only here waiting for the person and told me to ask you and see if you were willing. He didn't tell me you weren't doing mercenary work anymore." Andali could see the desperation in this man's eyes. If you were new to this ash covered island and went out on your own, you would die within a couple days.

Andali sighed, and looked down at the table for a moment, thinking. After a couple minutes in silence Andali looked up again, "What are willing to pay?"

The dunmer's eyes practically lit up with relief, "Most mercenaries I have hired in the past usually take 500 gold."

"Alright. When were you planning on leaving? I need to know how much time I have to get everything I need."

"I won't be leaving until this storm passes through."

The two stood after a few minutes of talking over the details and agreed to meet up at Andali's shop when the storm passes through. She and Coalion agreed that she would be paid 100 gold a day until he no longer has need of her to guide him through the land. Depending on how long he needed her services, she could make more gold than she would from her shop in a month.

Pulling up the face mask, Andali walked back out into the storm and made her way to her home at the edge of Raven Rock. After about a five minute walk, Andali pulled out a key and unlocked the door to her house and then locked it behind her. Walking downstairs, she took off the face mask and set on a table she passes and walked down the hall a few more steps and then turned right and entered a small alchemy room and started putting some ingredients in a satchel and a miniature set of equipment to make potions in a different pouch on the satchel. When that was done, she went to her bedroom and took out her old armor. It was black and gold trimmed leather armor with some steel plating across the chest and belly, along the back, and on parts of the legs and arms.

Andali got into her sleeping clothes and got into bed, using two of her fingers to smother the candle light, she fell into a sleep plagued by Vermina.

* * *

When the storm finally passed, Andali was going through inventory at her shop when the door opened and Coalion walked through, pulling down his face mask. He smiled when he saw the other dunmer standing behind the counter looking through an inventory book.

"That storm sure took its sweet time, didn't it?" he said sarcastically as he moved over to the front counter.

"That it did." Andali said, pouring a green liquid into a dark blue vial and putting a lid on it. "Did you get everything you need together? Wherever you are going, it's going to be a long journey since this is the only major town on Solstheim."

Coalion nodded, setting his satchel down and sat in a chair, "Yup. I managed to get everything I needed before coming to see you. I am ready to leave whenever you are." The female dunmer nodded, and put a satchel on the counter and put the blue vial in it. By the sound coming from the satchel, Coalion figured that satchel is where Andali keeps her potions.

Tying the satchel to her waist, Andali looked at the man sitting near the counter, "I am ready to leave. All I needed to do was take inventory of my stock and make a couple potions for this journey you are taking me on."

Coalion looked doubtful, "You don't need thicker armor or anything?"

She shook her head, "No. I am an accomplished mage and don't need to wear very thick armor. I would just slow you down in it. This armor I have on, I made myself and it is heavily enchanted. Trust me, I will be fine."

"Alright, you know the area far better than I do."

"Of course I do. Now, shall we?" She motioned toward the door and the two walked out.

* * *

**This was just the prologue, the coming chapter shall be longer, I hope. I am in high school and so I won't be able to write continuously. I will try to type a couple pages a day and posts should happen every few days.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Andali and Coalion made their way toward the abandoned farm on the edge of Raven Rock. When Coalion told her that he needed to find someone who knew something about a man named Miraak, she immediately thought about her adoptive father Neloth. He had mentioned the name Miraak when she was a child and tried to explain who he was but it is hard to explain things like that to a 13 year old child who wants nothing more than to learn how to through a fire ball. One of the few things that she distinctly remembers him telling her was about something called a Black Book but, again, she never really listened at the time. Growing up, Neloth was the only person to ever mention this mysterious person's name and she always thought that Neloth was crazy but now she had heard the name before and couldn't help but doubt.

When the two reached the farm, they immediately saw a dead Raven Rock guard and another guard fighting three ash spawn. "What in Azura's name are those?!" Coalion exclaimed when he saw the creatures and turned to Andali for an answer but saw her body outlined in a protective armor spell and hands unleashing ice spikes toward the creatures.

"I'll explain later!" she responded. Casting a confused look at the woman, Coalion turned and entered the fight. An ash spawn turned away from the dunmer guard and lashed out at Coalion and another went for Andali. Andali summoned a frost atronach from Oblivion and moved a few feet away to let the giant atronach do what it was here for. The atronach lifted its club like arm and slammed it to the ground, making the spawn fall to the ground and then struggled to get back up as the atronach shoved the point of its arm through the creature and then was sent back to Oblivion seeing as the fire from the spawn was too much for it to handle. Andali summoned an ice spell and sent a wall of ice toward the spawn, finishing it off.

Meanwhile, Coalion dodged the sword of the spawn he was fighting and pivoted on his feet until he was facing the creature's back and shoved the sword through the shoulder, crippling that arm and making the creature drop its sword. _Well, at least they can be disarmed like people_, Coalion thought as he finished off the creature and turned to see Andali and the guard finishing off the last one. Coalion walked over to the two as they stood over the ash the creature left behind and heard them talking.

"I wont hold you to anything but should I find anything of interest around here I will send you a note and you can decide if you want to do anything then. Thank you again for the help." The captain said and nodded to Coalion as he walked by, back toward Raven Rock.

"Now can you tell me what that was all about?" he asked Andali as they walked away from the farm and continuing East away from the dunmer settlement.

"Those creatures are called Ash Spawn and they can be very dangerous. They started appearing after the ash settled on Solstheim but they rarely come anywhere near large settlements. If you use enchanted weapons, don't bother using a sword or bow with a flame enchantment because it will just be useless. Anything fire doesn't work on them. Use ice, that seems to be there only weakness." She explained to him as they walked. The sun was slowly starting to set in the west and she told him they would need to stop to make camp soon.

"Lately, night hasn't been too welcoming. Creatures no one has seen before are making themselves known now and I have no wish to meet them anytime tonight." He accepted that answer and followed her off the trail they were on and deeper into the little bit of rocks and trees until they found a small cave. "I use this cave whenever I am going to be staying overnight out here. The entrance is big enough that we can get in and out but small enough that any large animal can't get in."

When they walked into the cave, Coalion noticed that Andali had, at one point, moved an alchemy table into the cave and a couple small beds and a few chests. The cave was big enough to hold at least six saber cats and the roof of the cave was about fifteen feet high. There was a fire pit in the middle of the cave with fire wood on the edges of the cave.

"You come here often, don't you?" he asked her as he sat on the bed that looked less used, putting his stuff on the floor by his feet.

Andali nodded and started putting some try weeds that were useless to her in a pile in the fire pit and made a small stack of small wood pieces and then a couple big pieces, "Yes I do. A lot of the alchemy ingredients that I use are out in this area or are farther from here and sometimes I stay out here a couple days to get everything that I need. I had to bring the wood in here and make the beds," she paused, focusing on her magicka to get a flame going and putting a small amount of fire onto the wood. "And I had to make that alchemy table. All in all, it took me about a year to get everything in here… in here."

When the fire was going good, Coalion shrugged off his cloak and went to sit across from his guide so that he could talk to her some.

"How long were you a mercenary before becoming a shop keeper?"

Andali had to think for a moment, "I was twelve when my family died and I was adopted a few months after that. That was ten years ago, roughly, and I started my shop two years ago… so about eight years, give or take." She responded.

"If you don't mind my asking, how did your family die?"

She smiled, "What is this? Interrogation? My family was killed by a group of ravagers **(I cant remember what the bandits in Solstheim are called but I know that it starts with an "R".)** or what you would call bandits. I was in the forest when I noticed that smoke was coming from our farm and by the time I reached it, they had gone and my mother, father, and older brother were all dead. By the time I had them buried, I had run out of what little food I had and went looking for anything edable to eat and I found the man who is now my adoptive father"

No one said anything for a few moments while Coalion thought about everything she had told him. To him, she looked like she didn't belong in the mercenary world but now that he had seen how her fighting abilities were, he wasn't surprise.

"What about you, Mr. Dragonborn? What is your life in that frozen rock like?"

"Well, it wasn't too interesting, especially after dealing with the dragon Alduin. I am a part of a group of warriors called the Companions,"

"I have heard of them. My mother was from Skyrim and she knew a couple of people that were a part of that group." Andali interrupted.

"They are good people. Anyway, I joined the Collage of Winterhold but I am thinking of leaving." Coalion said.

"Why? I would kill to go that Collage!"

"I have never been good with magick. I am practically a lost cause there. They try to teach me but I can't pick up anything they teach." He told her, glaring at the fire.

"Maybe I can teach you a few things. I was much the same way when Neloth, the man who adopted me, started teaching me how to use my magick and now look at what I can do. The people at the Collage are probably not starting where they need to with you. I have heard from people who went there that it is a great school but they don't really give much choice in what you start with." Andali explained to Coalion, thinking about her time learning magick and making Neloth extremely frustrated.

"I know how to do a simple healing, spark and flame spell but they tried to get me to do a ward spell."

Andali looked shocked, "Ward spells are not for mages who haven't learned a few more spells. They take concentration and they eat up your magicka like lighting. I know how to use wards but I hate having to use them. Anyway, if you want, I can teach you a couple spells that don't take long to master."

"If it's not a ward spell, I am good." He said, laughing.

**I planned for this chapter to be longer but my dad left town to go to Las Vegas for a week and watch a Nascar race with a couple of his friends so I am left at home taking care of 3 animals and the house. And dealing with school.**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The night passed slowly. Coalion was awake by the fire, cleaning his weapons while Andali slept in her bed. About three or four hours ago Andali had started showing him how to do the Frostbite spell but he was struggling; just like he did in the college. She was patient though and encouraged him and not once during the two hours they worked did she pressure him and or push him past his comfort limit and she did not seem to be frustrated at all. He had tried and failed numerous times and he got tired after a while so Andali told him they would resume practice on the spell the next time they stopped for the night.

Eventually Coalion stood and put a few more logs on the fire and put his weapons away and proceeded to crawl into bed, using a simple flame spell to light a candle and started writing in his journal.

_Entry 18  
Andali and I stopped in a cave for the night. Solstheim is an odd little island, that much is certain. We came across a small group of creatures that Andali called Ash Spawn. If I never see one of those odd beings again, I will be perfectly fine, but considering my past, I won't be so lucky.  
Before she went to bed, Andali started teaching me how to do a Frostbite spell. To be honest, I hate being at this low of a level in magick; I am a Dunmer! Magick is in my blood!_

When morning came, Coalion woke to the smell of cooking meat. He sat up and saw Andali standing over a cooking pot and occasionally using a spell to keep the fire hot. When Andali saw that he was awake, she told him to go ahead and get all his stuff together since they would be leaving as soon as they were done eating.

She wouldn't tell him what the meat was but he found it was really good. She said it was from the local wildlife but then she started talking about different types of spells and the location they were on their way to. During the night, Coalion had found a book on one of the shelves that was about Solstheim and leaned much about the land and the wildlife. The book had emphasized on being careful around Netches, even though they were very calm creatures.

Andali grabbed her satchel and strapped it to her armor and checked to make sure that everything was in it that she needed. When her little search was done, the two dunmer left the cave and Coalion watched in amazement as Andali used a spell to create a barrier over the cave opening.

"How…" he trailed off.

Andali smiled and looked at her handiwork with pride, "No one will be able to get through that barrier. The only people who know the spell that will break it are the dwemer and they are all gone and the only other person who knows this spell exists is Neloth." She turned and started walking back to the path they had been on the day before, "Come on now, I want to try and get to Tel Mithryn before dark."

**I know that it is very short and I am sorry for that but I had to take my cat to the vet to get fixed, my 16****th**** birthday is in two weeks and I just started a new relationship so things are going to be a bit slower and shorter while things get sorted.**


End file.
